The Biggest Movie of My Life – The Beginning

It all started when my eldest brother got sick one day. It was 1974 and he wasn’t really all that terribly sick, just a bit under the weather.

“Your brother is feeling a bit under the weather,” my mother whispered, “run to the shop and buy him a book to read.” This may seem a little odd but my brother and I have always shared this little trait – we are both comforted and cosseted by books. It’s strange but true.

So I ran to the shop – I was eleven years old and I ran pretty fast back then.

I didn’t run to the bookshop though, that would have been too easy. Instead, I ran to a little grocery shop on the other side of the river. It was a long way around via the bridge but I knew it was the place to go.

There was a book there, you see, up behind the counter and for weeks it had been staring out at me every day when I dropped in for a post-school treat. I couldn’t see much of it because it was quite a long way back but I knew from my distant view of the cover that it would be one that my brother would like.

It was about vampires, you see, and my brother liked vampires.

Well… I thought it was about vampires.

All that I could really see of the cover, from my vantage point in front of the counter, was the large mouth drooping downwards, the pointed savage teeth, the pale face, the black eyes and the title.

When I handed in my money and the book was brought down from its perch and delivered out to me, I finally saw that it wasn’t a vampire at all on the cover.

It was a fish.

* * * *

My brother finished ‘Jaws’ in record time, recovered fully and went off to play football on the street. Then it was my turn.

I had been waiting anxiously to have a go at it. The Daily Express review on the back cover was highly memorable, I can still quote it pretty much verbatim:

“Pick up ‘Jaws before midnight, read the first five pages, and I guarantee you'll be putting it down breathless and stunned, as dawn is breaking the next day”

Remember I was just eleven years old. There were things in ‘Jaws’ which I probably shouldn’t have been reading at that age. There was a lesbian in there, for instance. I didn’t really know what a 'lesbian' was but I soon figured it out. I had some help, I already had ‘The Dice Man’ under my belt… but that’s a whole other blog post.

Lesbians aside, the book grabbed me and shook me and would not let me go. I finished it, put it down and I remember saying to myself, ‘That is going to make one hell of a film.’

And so the long wait began…

There will never be another movie event like ‘Jaws’ simply because the world has now changed so much. When ‘The Dark Knight’ came out this summer, it was all over the world within days of its World Premiere. ‘Jaws’ took ages to even get to Ireland after it was released. But, much more importantly, it took additional ages to get to my home town after it was released in Dublin.

People were taking the train to the Capital just to queue around the block, see the film and then come home again. My best friend Martin was brought to Dublin by his Dad and so he got to see it months before me. I could have cheerfully strangled him and his old Dad – one neck in each hand.

One evening, weeks before it arrived, I saw a short clip on the telly. This was quite unusual in those days. I had one overriding impression of that short clip:

The movie looked so incredibly ‘Blue’...

With your indulgence, I might return to this subject in a later post, to set down what happened when I finally got to see the most-anticipated movie of my life.

33 comments:

I recall that a friend in college saw the movie, then went back and sat backwards to watch the audience reaction for a Psych paper. She said it was like watching a wave wash over them and ripple from top to bottom in the theater.

Poor Peter Benchley felt so bad about what he did to the image of the Great White Shark that he became a champion for their cause until his recent death.

I don't recall ever hearing about the book; I certainly don't recall hearing about the movie. But then again Dubai was a pretty sheltered place for things like this. Apparently, even more so the Ireland was.

So where in Ireland do you live Ken? (If you don't mind my asking that is... if you do, that's cool.. it's not like it's a big place ;P

I lived in a backwater too (NE England...in the 70s/80s it was like the land that time forgot) and so we got films what felt like decades after everyone else (if we got them at all). It's funny to remember that now when, as you say, things move much quicker now. I went cinema crazy for a while when I lived in cities but now I've gone the full circle...live miles from a cinema, don't really mind and wait, patiently for the dvd or film4!xp.s. package arrived today - ta

Alright, I'm sure I'm missing something, but you have to explain "The dice man under your belt".

I don't remember the lesbian in Jaws....but I was like ten when I read it. I'm pretty sure the woman going skinny dipping at the beginning of the book that was soon to be shark fodder had a boyfriend on the beach.

Nice read...you sound a lot closer to your brother than any of my brothers ever have been.

@fragileheart--Ireland might not be a big place, bit is known for its people with big hearts.

Awhhh Castlebar; we (and by we, I mean the Car Park Management company I no longer work for: Q-Park) owns a car park over there!! *sigh* I miss Ireland so very much. Don't know much about Sligo I'm afraid.

My Gosh! This was beautiful. You made me read from first to last word. Was this the blog you refer "just erite up there and people will read"? This is indeed a read. I ca imagine how you remember the details when it was around 34 years ago??? I am only guessing but the story is beautiful.

At first, I got scary with your description of the cover page.. Then, you made me grin after realizing that it was a fish! Hwahaahah... How could that be?

Lastly, I love the way you treat your "aches"... with a book? Isn't that a wonderful medicine?

Dear Cecelia: Of *course* you were younger - matter of fact, you must have seen a re-release or something. The movie never really had an effect on my relationship with water (once a month whether I need it or not), it just... excited me.

Hi Wanderer: I was twelve then. But I wouldn't really have strangled them :)

ilovph2: Hi, you are quite right, check the image link in the comment above although it sounds like you know the cover quite well. My eyesight was good, the book was just quite far away. I saw the title and the toothed mouth and thought 'Vampires, cool!' :)

I remember the phenomena of that summer.I remember I was too young to see it but I sure begged and pleaded all summer long. I remember well everyone seemed to have that book in their hands...the girl and the shark and a really blue sea.

I don't think there has been a movie blockbuster like that since either.Sure they make a lot of money these days, but no one ever talks about A movie anymore.

One of these days, I'll sit down to watch this movie. I've seen a little bit of this, a little bit of that, but not the whole thing. The sad part of it all is that the DVD is only an arm-length away from where I'm writing this commnent.

I truly enjoyed reading this post. And can't wait for the next posting.

Jaws was the first movie I ever saw at a drive-in theater. What an event that was! You could feel the fear and terror rippling through the crowd. I remember it was a very warm night and we all wanted to stay outside of the cars. Yet, we wanted the protection of the car, too. (As though the car on dry land would protect us from a man-eating shark swimming through movie water!) Good times.

Ken, I read the book and saw the movie the week it came out. I will never forget the thrill, the terror and the absolute captivation of that film. I was a couple of years older than you, so the adult content was perhaps more titillating in the book, but it was far outweighed by the excitement of seeing the Great White on film. A couple of scenes stand out for me in particular. Not to give anything away, but one had to do with a dock at night and the other with a hole in a boat. These days, those thrills are "small potatoes" in comparison to some of the stuff on the big screen today, and I think that's a shame, really.

Ah no Alan, it wasn't the nude lady made me buy the book - I thought she wuz the eyes of a vampire for Gawd's sake!! :)

Hi Jena: I think the movie *was* better than the book but the book was tautly written and more convincing in the end.

Tashabud (Hi) you really should treat yourself to that DVD - it stands up quite well even today except that the famous 'jump' sequence doesn't really work on a TV screen.

Gosh, Matt - 'got me worried now!

Carlae, Hi!, It is never too late for 'Jaws' - it feels more like film history now but, if you haven't seen it , there's still a treat in store - it's an extremely well-crafted movie.

Hi Kathy: I never thought of Jaws at a drive in. I wonder the everybody jump in their respective cars? :)

Poetikat, nice to see ya! The dock bit was great, wasn't it? That was used in advanced publicity, I think, and really set everything up well. BTW, you don't have many years on me darlin' and you're lookin' better than me! :)

Thanks Yolander, Have a read, it's pulpy but good and (did you hear?) there's a lesbian in it!! :)

'Me' Stuff

55 Years Old.
Loves to write.
Has had writing produced for radio, theatre, and film... some short stories published (and broadcast) and a laundry list which was highly commended by 'Whiter than White' in Castle Street.
'My Writing Resume'